Ah, another chapter. Between my three stories, I must be on a roll! This is, what, the 4th or 5th new chapter in the past 2 days? I'm a bit amazed that I'm getting all this done so quickly.

I suppose its quality that counts though. I hope you like the new chapter!

-OoOoOoO-

Kathleen

We finally arrived at Riley's apartment, and we found Ben and Nicole waiting on the steps. I sat next to Nicole and gave her a little hug. Ben acknowledged me with a curt nod, and I smiled back.

"Where's the Ferrari?" Ben asked, marking his place in the book in was reading.

"It got towed." I said.

"IRS impounded it." Riley said, looking a bit miserable. He sat down on the ledge.

"IRS?"

"Funny story. My accountant set up a corporation..." Riley winked as he spoke. "…on an island that didn't exist, and assured me that's how rich people do it."

I rolled my eyes, having heard this story several times during our trip. "Then he got audited and slapped with a huge fine. Plus interest."

"Yeah, do you know what the taxes are on 5 million dollars?"

"6 million dollars." Nicole and I said at once

I grinned. "We know, sweetie."

He scowled. "But enough about me..." He said with a fake smile. "What's new with you?"

"Well, my girlfriend kicked me out, I'm living with my dad, and my family killed President Lincoln." Ben said bitterly. He sighed. "I need your help."

"Does it involve treasure?" Riley asked, his eyes lighting up. I glanced at Nicole, and she looked back. We both sighed, rolling our eyes. We knew where this was headed.

-OoOoO-

"I can't believe you have to break into your own house." Riley said in disbelief as we walked through the courtyard at Ben's, (actually, Abigail's) Victorian mansion.

"I need to get Abigail's ID badge. She has access to the Booth diary page."

"Well, why not just call her up and say, 'Abby, can I borrow you ID badge for a little while?' " Nicole asked, sarcastically. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"She changed the alarm codes! She's not going to talk to me!" Ben cried in exasperation.

"Ah, yes, changing the alarm codes! A definite sign that they're broken up!" I said with a grin. We walked up to the door and Riley pulled off his handy-dandy backpack.

"Alright, we've got 30 seconds after the alert starts to disable the alarm. Ready?" He looked around at all of us with a little nod. "Go."

He opened the door of the mansion, and a beeping started. We all walked in, and I rested against the railing on the steps as Riley got to work.

"I'm probably gonna regret asking this…" Riley began as he worked. "But what happened between you and Abigail?"

"I don't know, you know? I don't know. She started using the word 'so' a lot." Ben seemed to reflect on the many arguments he'd had with his ex.

"So?" Riley probed with a little smirk. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, like, 'So, I guess you always know what's best.', 'So, I guess my opinion doesn't matter', 'So, I guess I'm invisible!' So I moved out, and we're dividing the furniture, and…" Ben trailed off.

"Women. Can't live with 'em, especially if they change the alarm codes." Riley put the cover back on the alarm box. I put my hands on my hips.

"I resent that remark, Mr. Poole." I said with a scowl. He stuck his tongue out at me as Ben looked at his watch.

"You did that in 25 seconds." He said, looking a bit impressed.

"That's why I tell people to get a dog." Riley said with a smile, starting up the stairs. Nicole looked confused.

"What does that mean?!"

"Never mind." I sighed.

We all walked up to Abigail's office. "Got it!" Ben grabbed the badge from the desk drawer.

"All right, let's go." Riley said, spinning back around. Suddenly a set of bright headlights swept across the room.

"We got company!" Nicole shouted.

"That's not Abigail's car…" Ben looked out the window, and his jaw suddenly clenched. "She's on a date."

"Is that…that guy? The White House guy?" Riley paused, and then giggled. "He's weird!"

"You guys broke up. She's hot. It happens. Let's go." Nicole said quickly. Ben looked confused, but we all dashed down the stairs.

"Wow, what clever repartee. She must really like him." Riley said, rushing down the stairs. He grabbed my hand and we ducked into a closet, while Nicole hid in Abigail's bathroom. I quickly shut the door. The closet was….cramped, to say the least. I could feel his breath on my face, and our bodies were dangerously close.

"We need to stay quiet." He whispered

"Ben, what are you doing here?"

I looked at Riley for a long moment, my entire body tingling in anticipation. Every place we touched burned. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh, screw it!" I said under my breath. I suddenly grabbed him by the tie, our lips crashing together. He didn't seem to mind at all. His hands rested on my waist, and his tongue advanced into my mouth.

"Riley, come out here!"

We ignored her, and he pressed me against the wall, still kissing me passionately. I swiftly began unbuttoning his vest as he pulled away from my lips, moving to the crook of my neck. I let out a quiet moan, enjoying every minute of this. He pressed his lips against mine agaim

I was just beginning to unbutton his shirt when the door opened, and a bright light poured into the closet. Abigail stood there, her arms crossed over her chest. I smiled weakly, my face going beet red.

"Hi Abby. It's…uh… been a while." I said nervously, handing Riley his vest back.

"Awkward…" Riley said under his breath, buttoning his shirt back up. Abigail spun back around, facing Ben.

"I cannot believe you broke in! What'd you take?"

"Just my… things." Ben said weakly. He obviously didn't fool Abigail, because she stuck out her hand.

"Hand it over Ben."

He said resignedly. "I need to see the Booth diary page."

"You saw the page yourself!" Abigail cried. "There is no treasure map on it!" She set off down the hall, and Nicole poked her head out of the bathroom, looking at me.

"What were you two doing in there?" She whispered.

"We were just…" I bit my lip looking down at the floor. She seemed to understand, because she started grinning at me.

"Just couldn't keep yourself off him, could you?"

I blushed crimson, turning back to Riley, who'd fixed his vest. He looked just about as red as me. I walked down the hall, following Ben and Abigail.

"Come on Abigail, one look under infrared." He suddenly stopped "You can have the Boston Tea Tables."

Abigail stopped too, and I knew she was smiling in satisfaction. Then she spun around, looking completely serious.

"Both of them?"

Ben had just struck a deal.

-OoOoO-

I rested my head on Riley's shoulder, exhausted. It was well past midnight, and we were still sitting in the lab at the Archives, scanning the diary page.

"We've been looking at this page for hours." Riley said, sounding as exhausted as I felt. "There's nothing there."

Ben rubbed his eyes tiredly, and Abigail sighed. "Ben, I really don't think we're going to find anything on this page."

"There's got to be something there." I murmured.

"Look at it this way. In 100 years, no one's going to remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth." Riley commented.

"That's not true." Ben shook his head. "Do you know the expression 'His name is mud'?"

"Yes, of course." Riley nodded.

"Really, you do?" Ben rubbed his eyes again. "Do you know the origin of that expression?"

"Does anyone but you?" Riley countered with a little nod. I grinned at him. He just had the cutest little habits.

"Dr. Samuel Mudd…"

"People said he was involved in the assassination, he was later pardoned, but his name still lives in infamy, blah, blah, blah." Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Exactly." Ben pointed a finger at Nicole, and a ghost of a smile formed on his lips.

"Ben?" Abigail said suddenly. She pointed at the screen. "Take a look at this." A brown mark was beginning to appear.

"Oh." Ben breathed. "This is quite something, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it says 'smudge'" Riley said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"A smudge that looks an awful lot like an X" I replied. We all turned our head to the side, trying to get a better look.

"Residual ink from the facing page. Flip it." Ben ordered. Abigail did so, and Ben's face broke into a grin. "It's a cipher."

"Yes!" Abigail exclaimed.

"A cipher! See how the letters are coupled? Playfair ciphers encode letters in pairs!"

"Somebody's excited!" Nicole said in sing-song. Ben nodded.

"This could prove Grandpa Charles's story!"

Abigail, however, looked a bit wary. "Unless you decode the cipher, this does not prove your theory."

"No, no that's OK. We just need a five-letter keyword."

"What is it?" Nicole and Riley asked simultaneously.

Ben sighed a bit. "I don't know yet."

"Alright…." Riley said. I grinned up at Ben.

"Congratulations. Maybe you're not related to a killer after all."

"Thanks." This reply sounded rather sarcastic. "Can I get a printout of this?"

"Well, there's billions of words in the English language, let's start from the beginning. A…Aardvark?" Riley suggested.

"That's not 5 letters." I reminded him. I heard soft breathing beside me, and realized with a laugh that Nicole had fallen asleep on the desk

"Ben…" Abigail said tentatively, standing by the printer. "I don't think this is going to stop Dr. Nichols from announcing the discovery of the page…tomorrow."

"No, wait. Can't you just ask him to wait until I prove Thomas is innocent."

Abigail sighed, rolling her eyes at Ben's stubbornness. "What if he isn't innocent?" She snatched up the printout and walked out, leaving the rest of us alone while Ben stood there, dumbfounded.

"It'll be OK, Ben." I said softly. "Now let's go crack this code."

-OoOoOoO-

Well, that wasn't too bad, was it? I hope not.

Ah, well, is there a review in it for me?